Some employers love to preach loyalty, but as soon as they think that they might be better off without you—or that you haven't made them as much money as you could have—they won't hesitate to send you packing, no matter how long you've worked together and what your contributions have been previously. This isn't true of all employers and all situations, but the bad experiences and accounts

The flexibility of working from home is a knife that cuts both ways, especially if you're not careful and diligent with your time. While working from the comfort of your own home and away from pointless and draining conversations in the office, before you know it, you're taking calls in the early morning and late in the evening and working past your scheduled hours more and more often, blurring the line between your working and personal life. To make matters worse, on days when you're sick and…

Something is fishy in this story, and it's not anything to tank lightly… This self-proclaimed fish enthusiast was allowed by their employer to keep a fish tank at their desk, something that brightens up their day, the tank supplied and financed by themself alone. Their coworkers, however, latched on to the idea, proclaiming that it would be more fun to open up the fish tank to everyone and make it a communal office engagement project. Their lack of knowledge and unwillingness to learn about the…

We've all dreamed of quitting a job in dramatic fashion The myth of the hard-nosed boss: a harsh take-no-prisoners leadership style with the “greater good” and the learning of the team in mind. The issue is far too many leaders think they're living up to this mythology when in reality they're treading over the fine line This worker made a splash, quite literally, when they quit their job after suffering one insult and one impolite demand too many from their toxic boss.

Constant exposure to a toxic workplace environment can cause devastating burnout that really sneaks up on you…

There's really no place for bait-and-switch tactics in the interview process. The process of looking for a job is long and difficult enough without using deceit to try and trick prospective candidates into taking a job that wasn't what they thought they were signing up for, either changing the terms of their employment or compensation at the last minute and hoping they'll be desperate enough to go along with it. Still, as with anything in life, communication is key, and sometimes—no, often—simp…

When you're working, you need to take breaks; it's just a simple fact of working—at least until our employers manage to replace us with AI and AI-powered robots. Even when that inevitably occurs, there's sure to be downtime for updates and bug fixing, so it's all the same, really. Customers and bosses alike seem prone to misunderstanding when a worker is on their break. And, let's be honest, in some working environments, where there isn't the appropriate space to take breaks or where you're alw…

Who hasn't watched the amenities of their workplace—the absolute basics that you might expect to have in the office break room—slowly eroding? First, it starts with the coffee. If you had a machine in the workplace, suddenly that's gone, leaving a French Press. Ok, fair enough, but before long, the actual coffee they were providing is replaced with the cheapest instant coffee available that doesn't even really taste like coffee. Now, they're no longer providing milk, so everyone has to buy thei…

When you first start off your career, you're bright and starry-eyed, carrying such ideals as “work hard and be rewarded,” fueled by stories and mythology of working stories you've heard. The reality is that work is more like Sisyphus pushing his boulder up the hill only to have it roll back down again—nothing gained, changed, or earned except the opportunity to complete the task again. You probably think that as long as you put effort into something, it will eventually pay off and that honest f…

It's pretty safe to say that your employer will never fully appreciate your contribution until after you leave. At this point, they will realize that your contribution isn't quite as easy to replicate as they thought, leading to productivity losses that they will have to pay a lot more to replicate. Of course, they could have just given you a moderate raise and saved more money than they ended up spending. A certain part of this is misreading the relationship, overestimating the hold they have…

It is truly mind-boggling how some employers will treat the workers who are essential to the success and operation of their business. They gamble that they can pay them below market rates and keep them exactly where they are and that their workers will continue to be milked like the cash cow that they are… After taking on increasing responsibility in their boss's small business, this worker knew it was time to move on to greener pastures . They did what they thought was the right thing and gave…

It's no secret that a lot of employers in as many industries allocate more budget to hiring than they do to staff retention. This is a bit silly when you consider that large organizations will go on to spend tens of thousands of dollars on recruiting, onboarding, and training processes—in addition to value lost due to lost time and productivity of vacant roles. Though some of this cost is silent or not immediately apparent on the books and, in contrast, the idea of approving even half that mone…

When people use the term “not leadership material” they can mean a wide variety of things. It can mean that you're not suited to the organization's toxic expectations of complicity and your unwillingness to follow whatever directive is passed down to you blindly. It can also mean that your performance isn't up to standard or that you don't prioritize interpersonal relationships and kiss the appropriate rear ends often enough. “Doesn't do the things I want them to,”

When you've suffered through job hunting and interview processes to finally make it to the point of an offer, it's disheartening to realize that the wool has been pulled over your eyes… That there's actually been no chance at a job at all: they're just fishing to find someone desperate enough for a job that they can be properly exploited. Still, it's better than actually starting the job before the red flags start to pop up—at least marginally. This candidate reached the point of actually laugh…

The interview process is a long and arduous one for both sides, really, and the last thing anyone wants is for their time to be wasted after such a long process. The relief that comes after simultaneously finally securing a role or finally having someone to fill an empty position on the team is understated, turning energies next towards developing and furthering the burgeoning relationship. While you can expect a lot of anxiety on the first day on the part of the candidate, the last thing you e…

Hanlon's razor is one of my favorite adages for maintaining sanity in this crazy world, and if you've read a few of these posts, you've probably seen it mentioned almost as many times. The philosophical razor states that one should “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” This is all well and good and helps one to let go of the atrocious and selfish behaviors they witness from others while out and about in the world: they don't mean to be that way they're jus…